This year, South African cell-based meat company Newform Foods brought the cell-based meat discussion to the Dubai Future Forum – an annual event hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation.

Newform Foods hosted a tasting of its cell-based lamb meatballs at the annual event, which it says is “the largest of its kind in the Gulf region”.

Brett Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Newform Foods, said: “It was an honour to showcase some of the work we’ve been doing over the last few months with a global audience at the Dubai Future Forum 2023. We’ve been doing tastings since our first burger launch in April 2022 and this was by far the largest. We’d like to extend a massive thank you to the Dubai Future Foundation for having us and for the opportunity to show the world what we’re cooking up for the future."

The meatballs were available on a limited basis to 20 guests attending the forum.

Ahmed Khan, founder and editor, Cell Agri, commented: “It has been incredible to follow Newform Foods’ journey through the years and get the opportunity to taste their cultivated lamb meatball at the Dubai Future Forum. The lamb meatball tasted great and had a gamey meat flavour."

Joelene Lum, head of business development at Nurasa, added: “The flavour and the texture had the aftertaste of actual lamb. The meatball even had the slight toughness of lamb which added to the bite. I’ve tried cultivated meat before, but this was by far the most mind-blowing experience I’ve had with cultivated meat."

The tasting comes after Newform Foods’ announcement last month, that it was partnering with Project Assignments to develop a scalable demonstration facility for cell-based meat products. Once complete, the facility – which will be based in Cape Town, South Africa – will be the largest of its kind in Africa.

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